Roll of Honour for the British Minigolf Association’s 2012 Season Published

PRLog - Nov. 29, 2012 - During the 2012 season the British Minigolf Association organised a total of 28 Minigolf tournaments around the country. This included fourteen ranking events at eleven Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses. There were a further fourteen Minigolf competitions played during the year and a number of additional non-ranking titles contested. A total of 22 players won a Minigolf title in 2012.

BMGA British Number One Michael Smith added eleven victories to his career record of 20 BMGA Tour career wins. Chris Harding, Richard Gottfried, Nick Chitty, John McIver and Seth Thomas also won BMGA Tour titles in 2012.

Smith, 27 from Oxford also became the first player in BMGA history to win all three Minigolf ‘Major’ titles in the same year, winning the BMGA British Championship in June, the BMGA British International Open in September and retaining the ‘Castle Golf’ World Crazy Golf Championship in October to become a two-time World Champion.

Commenting on his winning year on the BMGA Tour Michael, a member of the Kent Minigolf Club said “I'm absolutely delighted with my minigolf year. I set myself some ambitious targets at the start of the year but 2012 has far exceeded anything I could have ever imagined. I think I speak for most, if not all, of the regular players on the BMGA Tour, when I say this has been a great year for the tour and the sport of Minigolf in this country. The standard of play from our players, both in Britain and abroad, has been excellent and we have an exciting future ahead of us. I'd like to thank the BMGA Chairman Sean Homer and all of the BMGA Executive Committee, as well as Marion Homer and Emily Gottfried for all their hard work and fantastic organisation. If the 2013 BMGA Tour is half as good as 2012, we'll be set for another great year."

With the conclusion of the 2012 Minigolf season, the final ranking lists for the British Minigolf Association have been published. Each year the BMGA runs three ranking lists based on player’s performance in official ranking tournaments held on Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf courses around the UK.

Oxford’s Michael Smith was ranked number one in the BMGA’s Official Strokeplay Order of Merit with a total of 5,590 points. Adam Kelly from Linton, Cambridgeshire was second on 4,690 points and Cambridge’s James Rutherford was third with 4,480 ranking points. Rounding out the top five were Sean Homer from Greenhithe, Kent on 4,330 points and Canterbury’s Marc Chapman with 3,955 points. A total of 96 players were ranked in the BMGA Official Matchplay Ranking List.

Sean Homer from Kent was ranked number one in the BMGA’s Official Matchplay Order of Merit with a total of 3,550 points. Oxford’s Michael Smith was second on 3,045 points and London’s Brad Shepherd was third with 2,945 ranking points. Also in the top five were Canterbury’s Marc Chapman on 2,770 points and Tony Kelly from Linton, Cambridgeshire with 2,340 points. A total of 60 players were ranked in the BMGA Official Matchplay Ranking List.

Michael Smith was also ranked number one in the BMGA’s Season Only Rankings for 2012 with a total of 7,130 points. James Rutherford was second on 5,355 points and Sean Homer was third with 5,285 ranking points. Adam Kelly on 4,965 points and Luton’s Richard Gottfried with 2,340 points were also in the top five. A total of 120 players were ranked in the BMGA 2012 Season Only Ranking List. Amongst the players who qualified for the rankings by playing in a BMGA individual strokeplay event during the year are players from England, Scotland, Germany, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and the USA.

In the Club Season Only Rankings for 2012 the eighteen-player Kent Minigolf Club led the way with 288 points. The Cambridgeshire Mini Golf Club was second with 118 points from their ten players. The thirteen players from the Midlands Minigolf Club put the team in third place on 72 points. London Minigolf Club was fourth with 36 points from the eight competing players. The Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club was fifth with 27 points from six players and Splash Point Mini Golf Club was sixth with thirteen points from the one player represented in a ranking event.

The British Minigolf Association is the governing body for Minigolf Sport, including Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf. Formed in 1998 the BMGA organises Minigolf competitions for its members across the UK. The BMGA is a member of the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) and the European Minigolf Sport Federation (EMF). For further details about the BMGA and UK Minigolf please email mail@minigolf.org.uk or visit http://www.minigolf.org.uk

The full BMGA Official Strokeplay Ranking List for 2011-2012 can be found at http://www.minigolf.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463%3Abmga-official-strokeplay-order-of-merit-list-updated-following-the-kent-open&catid=34%3Arankings&Itemid=60

The full BMGA Official Matchplay Ranking List for 2011-2012 can be found at http://www.minigolf.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=437%3Abmga-official-matchplay-order-of-merit-list-updated-after-the-british-doubles-championship&catid=34%3Arankings&Itemid=60

The full BMGA 2012 Season Only Ranking List can be found at http://www.minigolf.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=464%3A2012-season-only-rankings-list-updated-after-the-kent-open&catid=34%3Arankings&Itemid=60

Photos from many of the 2012 British Minigolf Association Tour events (courtesy of the Kent Minigolf Club) can be viewed at the KMGC Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/13680867@N02/

The British Minigolf Association’s 2013 Tour tees-off at the BMGA Star City Open at Adventure Island Mini Golf in Birmingham on Sunday 27th January 2013, full details of the event can be found at http://www.minigolf.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_eventlist&view=details&id=82&Itemid=56